Return of the King

So dirty. so happy. 

As of Tuesday, Dino has been officially re-installed in his Pony Palace. The ground is FINALLY dry enough and his skin is FINALLY healed enough for him to return to his outdoor living quarters.

His Highness is really, really happy about it.

He celebrated with a wonderfully long, itchy-scratchy, grunty-groany roll in his paddock after we rode yesterday, and it's really amazing to see how much more relaxed he is in the Pony Palace as opposed to the stall. I'm going to miss how clean he was all the time, but it makes my heart smile to see my little man so chill. Plus I no longer have to clean his stall every day or buy shavings. Bonus.

The past couple days we've been getting back into our dressage work. Dino is getting fit enough to start going in a working frame for most of the time, so I've been trying to demand a bit more from him in our flatwork. On Tuesday this was a bit difficult, and he insisted that I do all the work for both of us. I got off feeling like I had just worked way too hard.

Yesterday I was more determined to demand more from my pony, and I did a much better job when it came to reminding Dino that he is the one that needs to carry us. We did about a million transitions, and what do you know, my pony became more balanced the more transitions we practiced. Funny how that works. We did a little shoulder-in as well, which helped to straighten him nicely. I attempted counter-canter at the end of the ride, but after having ridden for about an hour already, Dino was too tired at that point to do it correctly, so I let him be done for the day.

Show-wise, I'm looking tentatively at May 25th for our next outing. This weekend is a no-go for us just because of my dear husband's schedule, and next weekend is out as well since I just scheduled a work project for Sunday, and Michael is away all day Saturday. There's a schooling show at the Horse Park on the 25th where we have the option of doing equitation or jumpers, so that is looking like a good bet. It's just the day after Hunt Teams at Devon, where I'll be grooming for Rachel and Keri. Much coffee will be needed. If we don't show on the 25th, we won't be going anywhere until June 8th.

That's all for now!